This invention pertains generally to the cooling of refrigerant gas and oil used in a cryogenic refrigeration system. The cryogenic refrigeration system contains a compressor pump which compresses a mixture of oil and refrigerant gas. The purpose of the oil is to absorb heat produced in compressing the refrigerant gas and to provide lubrication to the compressor pump. The heat produced during compression is generally dispersed through heat exchangers external to the compressor. There are two separate fluid flows that need to be cooled: an oil and gas mixture flow and a liquid oil flow. In conventional systems, the different flow characteristics of the two dictate the need for separate heat exchangers containing different fin/tube arrangements.
The oil and gas mixture from the heat exchanger is separated into its two component parts. The oil component, along with the output from the liquid oil heat exchanger returns to the input of the compressor pump. On the other hand, the gas component is cleaned in an adsorber and directed to the cold head of a cryogenic refrigerator such as a Gifford-MacMahon cryogenic refrigerator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,815 to Chellis et al. After traveling through the refrigerator, the gas is returned to the compressor through a return line and mixed with returned oil to start the entire process again.